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I enjoyed this novel for its mix of espionage, humour and thrill. One can't help but feel sorry for Harry Pendel, caught in his web of lies but fundamentally good, trapped in a world that does him no favours and for which he is ill equipped to survived. I also liked the cast of supporting characters, from Andy, greedy and mischievous, Maltby, surprising and opportunistic, Marta, mysterious and faithful. All are well developed, enticing and engaging.The plot did have lengthy bits but never once was I bored. The politics were relatively easy to follow and I enjoyed learning more about a country I knew nothing about.Not one of LeCarré's best, but certainly a good example of this work, and an entertaining read. ( )

Very amusing story of an ex-pat Brit in Panama, who is pressured to become a spy, and who invents a whole world of intrigue out of whole cloth.Makes me think that this is what happened to the USA in its intelligence gathering prior to the Iraq war.The book was a bit slow going. The interspersed humor kept me going though. ( )

It is difficult to figure out which person is lying the most. Perhaps Harry Pendel, a successful tailor in Panama City, who lives in a world of his own creation as the successful protegé of the non-existsent Mr. Braithwaite. There is also Andy Osnard, a member of the Brittish Intellegence Service and always looking to make a fast buck. The two feed off each other's false worlds but their actions have ramifications in the bigger world of the Canal Zone and Panamanian politics. A different kind of spy novel from LeCarre but still well crafted and full of the moral ambiguity of the post Cold War intellegence service.

John le Carré's writerly skills are at work in ''The Tailor of Panama.'' The pace is nonstop, scenes are cleanly and economically written, and flashbacks are incorporated seamlessly into the narrative. The details of the tailor's craft are given entertainingly. And the conclusion, which should probably not come as a surprise, resoundingly does.

Wikipedia in English (1)

John le Carré, the greatest spy novelist of the Cold War era, continues his post-Cold War quest to define the genre he helped perfect. The classic spy novel was essentially a story of good (England, the United States) vs. evil (Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union), in which good more or less prevailed. The Tailor of Panama is something else entirely: a spy novel with no spies in which the bad guys reap most of the rewards. It is also a viciously funny satire. The novel is set in Panama, where a plot is in place to make void the Panama Treaty, which would return control of the Panama Canal to the Panamanians in 1999. At the center of events is Harry Pendel, the tailor of the title. Coerced into working for British Intelligence, he concocts out of whole cloth a left-wing movement with the goal of luring the American military to do the dirty work--invade Panama à la 1989 and nullify the treaty. From the characters to the setting, le Carré has succeeded in setting new parameters for an old genre.

An English tailor working in Panama is hired by the British government as a spy because of his contacts at the highest level. He proceeds to tailor his reports the way he creates his suits, giving the client what he wants, and the result is tragicomedy.… (more)